


Martha in mauve (Behind the  door: day 10)

by DoctorBilly



Series: Behind the door: Advent calendar2014 [10]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-10
Updated: 2014-12-10
Packaged: 2018-02-28 22:06:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2748863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoctorBilly/pseuds/DoctorBilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Day 10 of my Advent Calendar for 2014. Prompts are from locations behind the <a href="http://www.safestyle-windows.co.uk/secret-door/index.html">Secret Door</a></p><p>Mrs Hudson likes to dance</p>
            </blockquote>





	Martha in mauve (Behind the  door: day 10)

**Author's Note:**

> If the image does not show on your device, you can see it [ here ](http://doctor-billy.tumblr.com/post/104834955318/behind-the-door-day-10-the-gardens-of)

 

 

Martha smiles as she looks out over the formal knot gardens. There is no sign of the usual green of the box hedges, instead, everything is blanketed in white. " _Like a damask tablecloth_ " she thinks.

She hears the music from inside. She smiles again, smoothing her skirts. Mauve taffeta, dyed with the new synthetic dye, it swishes and swirls as she dances. The waltz is her favourite, although she likes a polka, too. She has finished dancing for this evening, though. In a moment, she will go in and say her goodnights.

She has been popular tonight. Mr Chatterjee claimed _four_ dances, and she allowed him to. She expects that he will call on her tomorrow. She thinks that he will propose soon. She has been widowed for long enough to consider marrying again, and she has property. She would be a good catch.

She smiles indulgently at her two liveried grooms, waiting with her carriage at the bottom of the stairs. They are very close friends, perhaps a _little_ closer than is mentionable in polite society, but Martha is broad minded. What she doesn't actually see won't hurt her. She signals them to be ready, and goes inside.

Mr Chatterjee escorts her to her carriage, handing her up to her dark-haired groom, who settles her in, wrapping her in a blanket before closing the carriage door and going to join his fair-haired companion on the box seat. It is a fair distance from the country house to her town home, and she is soon nodding, sleep overtaking her.

 

*********

 

Martha wakes and stretches, rubs the sleep out of her eyes. She leans down and picks up the novel that has fallen off her lap. The cover is lurid, typical of a bodice-ripper. A young woman, almost wearing a purple dress, dancing with a man whose face is shadowed. Martha chuckles, remembering her dream.

She goes to the kitchen and makes tea, bringing it back to her armchair by the fire. She picks up her tin of fancy Christmas biscuits, admiring the picture on the lid. Versailles in the snow.

She can hear John and Sherlock moving around quietly upstairs, and wonders how much longer it will be before they admit they are a couple.

She sips her tea, eats an iced biscuit and settles down with her book again.


End file.
